Rotary meter



ROTARY METER Fild July 12, 1939 s Sheets-Sheet 1' Fig 1.

ilk W w. P. SYIEBECKER EI'ALI: 7.3 2

April 1940- w. P. SIQEBECKER El AL ,3

ROTARY METER I Filed July 12, 1939 s Sheets-Sheet 2 ll 1? Siebec/rer Armas Isa a'rinen Patented Apr. 15, 1940 UN TED; STATES ROTARY lHETERWilliam P. Siebecker, San Mateo, and Armas J.

Saarinen, San Francisco, Calif., assignors to Granberg MeterCorporation, San Francisco, Calif., a corporation of CaliforniaApplication July 12, 1939, Serial No. 284,086

6 Claims. The invention relates primarily to meters of the general typedisclosed in the U. S. patent to Armas J. Saarinen, No. 2,131,236 ofSeptember 2'7, 1938. In this type of meter,-vanes for rela- 'tiveopening and closing movements are rotatjusting said head and improvedmeans for holding said head in adjusted position.

With the foregoing in view, the invention resides in the novel subjectmatter hereinafter described and claimed, description beingac'complishedby reference to the accompanying drawmgs.

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view through the meter.

Figure 2 is a top plan view p rtly in horizontal section. I

Figure 3 is a view similar tothe upper por- -tion of Figure 1 butshowing the casing cover and contained parts removed from the, majorportion of the casing.

Figure 4 is a vertical section through the casing cover.

Figure 5 is a vertical section on line 55 of Figure 2.

Figure 6 is an enlarged vertical section on line a 6-6 of Figure 5.

In the drawings above briefly described, a

substantially cylindrical casing I0 is shown haying a fluid inlet and anoutlet I 2', a faucet valve I3 being shown associated with said 'out-.

let. Suitably secured to the lower end wall hi of the casing l0, we haveshown a central shaft l5 upon which the vanes it are mounted by means ofupper and lower sets of radial bearings l1 and I8 and additional ballbearings IS, the latter supporting the weight of said vanes l6. Thesevanes l6 are operatively connected by links 20, and pins 2| and 22, orother suit-' able means, with a register-driving disk 23, the axis ofsaid disk being eccentric to the axis of the shaft l5 to cause relativeopening and closing of the vanes l6 as the meter operates. The 1 disk 23is rotatably mounted in a recess 24- of a rotative'ly adjustable head25, said head being mounted in an upstanding neck portion 26 of a cover21 which is secured by cap screws or the like 28 upon the casing Ill,the upper side of said cover being adapted to support a register 29. Thedisk 23 is provided with a central "register-driving shaft 30 mounted insuitable bearings 3| carried by the head 25, said shaft 30 beingoperatively connected by gearing 32 with the register shaft 33 extendingthrough a stuffing box 34 in the top of the cover 2'! and intothereg'ister casing. I I I During rotation of the vanes 16 and disk '23,said vanes relatively open and receive fluid from the inlet H, andrelatively close and discharge the fluid into the outlet [2, and saiddisk drives the register 29 to register the fluid passed through themeter. The maximum opening movements of the vanes l6 and minimum closingmovements thereof and vice versa, may be varied, to insure agreement offluid delivered and register reading, by varying the eccentricity of thedisk axis with respect to thevane' axis, and this is accom- *plished byrelatively adjusting the head'25'with- The periphery of the head 25' isgrooved at 38 to receive the ribs 35, and above said groove isgf notchedat 39, leaving eircumferentially spaced ribs 40 between the notches,-whic'h ribs 40 are provided with end-thrust surfaces 4! resting slidablyupon the end tlirust surfaces 36 of the ribs 35, holding the head 25against downwardmovement. The upper end of this head is formed I with anend-thrust surface 31' contacting with the end-thrust shoulder 31,holding the head against upward shifting. Theinterengaged ribs and soconnect the head 25 with the cover 21 that said head and cover and the.disk 23 carried by the head, are removable as a singleunit from themajor portion of the casing HI, should access to interior parts berequired, for repair. After this unitis removed, the head- 25 v 1 maybeturned until the ribs 40 thereof are bebe bodily withdrawn from thecover 21. While the cover 21, the head 25 and the disk 23 are beingremoved unitarily from the major portion of the casing, the pins 2|simply withdraw from the links 26. Obviously, assembly or reassembly maybe effected by a reversal of the operations just described and tofacilitate engagement of the pins 2| with the links 20, said pins arepreferably downwardly pointed as shown.

A clamping device 42 extends rigidly outward from the head 25 through aslot 43 in the neck 26 for normally holding said head tightly againstsaid neck, and an adjusting device 44 is connected with said clampingdevice for moving the latter and said head to rotatively adjust thishead as required. The devices 42 and 44 are preferably of theconstruction now to be described.

A clamping screw 45 extends through the slot 43 and is threaded intothehead 25, and a block 46 is mounted on this screw between the head 4!thereof and the outer side of the neck. The screw is normally tight andclamps the head 25 against rotation but when said screw is loosened, itmay be moved laterally along the slot 43 to adjust the head 25 asrequired. Preferably, the neck 26 carries a scale 48 for coaction withan indicator 49 on the block 46 to aid in making any required plus orminus adjustment. After adjustment, tightening of the screw 45 willtightly clamp the head 25 in any position to which it has been adjusted.

The adjusting device 44 is shown in the form of a screw rotatablymounted in a bearing 50 secured to the exterior of the neck 26. saidscrew being threaded through the block 4-6. Rotation of this screw, whenthe screw 45 is loosened, will so move the block 46 as to move saidscrew 45 in the slot 43, turning the head 25 to the desired adjustedposition. This adjustment of the head 25, it will be recalled, variesthe eccentricity of the disk axis (axis of shaft 30) with respect to thevane axis (axis of shaft l5) to so vary the opening and closingmovements of the vanes l6 as to obtain agreement between meter outputand register reading. By turning screw 44 in one direction, a plusadjustment is effected which slightly increases the meter output,whereas turning said screw in the other direction pro-: duces a. minusadjustment slightly decreasing the output. Thus by making the properadjustment,

strict agreement may be obtained between out put and register reading.

The surface 5| against which the block 46 is slidable, is parallel withthe axis of the adjusting screw 44 and when said block is in its neutralor zero position, the axis of the clamping screw 45 is at right anglesto said surface 5| and said block 46. As the screw 44 is turned ineither direction, however, to move screw 45 along slot 43. the angularrelation of said screw 45 with respect to the surface 5| changes, and asblock 46 must slide along said surface 5|, the angular relation of thisblock with respect to screw 45. must vary. To permit this, the opening52 in the block 46, through which screw 45 passes, is of flaredformation. Preferably, a washer 53 is seated in one end of the opening52 and contacts with the screw head 41.

A cap 54 normally covers and protects the clamping and adjusting meansabovedescribed, said cap being detachab ly secured to the neck 26 by capscrews or the like 55. When adjustment of head 25 is required, the cap54 is detached,

screw 45 is loosened, and screw 44 is turned in the proper direction.Tightening of screw 45 then tightly clamps the head 25 in the positionto which it has been adjusted.

It will be seen from the foregoing that novel and advantageous provisionhas been made for attaining the desired ends and while preferredfeatures of construction have been disclosed, variations may of coursebe made within the scope of the invention as claimed. While a screw 45having a head 4! has been shown for clamping the head 25 in adjustedposition, obviously a stud could well project from said head to take theplace of said screw 45 and a nut on the stud would then take the placeof saidhead 41. Also,

the adjusting device 44 need not take the identical form shown nor bemounted and connected with block 46 in the exact manner illustrated.

The part 56 is merely a curved upstanding flange on the central web 5!of the head 25, upon which flange the register shaft 33 rests. 58denotes a tapped opening in the lower side of head 25 for use inassembly. 59 is a vent from the lower to the upper side of the head 25,and another vent 60 extends from the portion of the cover 21 over saidhead, to the outlet I2. 6| and 62 merely denote cored out portions ofthe upper and lower end walls of the casing H] where sealing engagementwith the vanes I6 is not required. 46' in Figs. 2 and 6 simply denoteslugson block 46 received in slot 43, relieving the screw 44 of the dutyof holding said block against turning.

What is claimed is: 1. In a mechanism of the class described having acasing, vanes rotatable about a common axis in said casing, a cover forsaid casing removable therefrom by movement unidirectionally with saidaxis, a rotary disk eccentric to said axis, a rotatively adjustable headcarrying said disk for varying the eccentricity of the disk axis withrespect to the shaft axis, and connecting means between said disk andsaid vanes including disk-carried and vane-carried members separablefrom each other by axial movement of said disk away from said vanes;means connecting said head and cover for removal as a single unit fromthe casing, said head and cover connecting means comprising a series ofcircumferentially spaced connecting portions carried by said cover.

and a second series of circumferentially spaced. connecting portionscarried byv said head and slidably engaged with the cover-carriedconnecting portions, whereby, after said cover, head and disk are bodilyremoved from the casing, said head may be disconnected from said coverby turning said head until its connecting portions are disposed betweenthose of said cover, said. head and said disk being then bodilyremovable from the cover by shifting said head toward thecasing-engaging side of said cover.

2. In a mechanism of the class described having a casing, vanesrotatable about a common axis in said casing, a rotary disk eccentric tosaid axis, means connecting said vanes with saiddisk, and a rotativelyadjustable head in said casing carrying said disk for varying theeccentricity of the disk axis with respect to the vane axis;interengaged connecting means for holding said head against axialmovement in said casing, said connecting means comprising two series ofslidably engaged circumferentially spaced connecting portions, one ofsaid series being carried by. said casing and the other by saidhead, thehead-carried connecting portions being aromas disengageable from thecasing-carried portions by turning said head until said portions thereofof circumferentially' spaced ribs carried by and projecting inwardlyfrom said neck, and a second series-of circumferentially spaced ribscarried by said head, the two series of ribs being slidably engaged witheach other and having contacting end-thrust surfaces in a plane at rightangles to the disk axis and holding the head against axial shifting inone direction, said neck and head having additional end-thrust surfacesholding said head against axial shifting in the other direction, thehead-carried ribsbeing disengageable from the neck-carried ribs byturning said head until said ribs thereof are disposed between said ribsof said neck. f

4. In a mechanism of the class described having a casing, vanesrotatable about a common axis in said casing, a rotary disk eccentric tosaid axis, means connecting said vanes with said disk, and a rotativelyadjustable head carrying said disk for varying the eccentricity of thedisk'axis with respect to the vane axis, said casing havinga necksurrounding said head; a series of circumferentially spaced ribs carriedby and projecting inwardly from said neck, said ribs having end thrustsurfaces facing away from said vanesv and disposed in a plane at rightanglesto the disk axis, said neck having an end thrust shoulder spacedfrom and facing said end-thrust surfaces of said ribs and disposed in aplane parallel therewith, said head having an end-thrust surfaceabutting said end-thrust shoulder of said neck, said head being alsovprovided with -cir cumierentially spaced ribs having end-thrust surfacescontacting with said end-thrust surfaces of said neck-carried ribs, thehead-carried ribs being disengageable from the neck-carried ribs byturning said head until its ribs are disposed between the ribs ofsaidneck.

5. In a mechanism of the class described having a casing, vanesrotatable about a common head, a threaded clamping member carried bysaid head and projecting rigidly therefrom through said casing portion,said threaded clamping member having a rotatable part at the exterior ofsaid casing portion by meansoi which it may be loosened and tightened, ablock contacting with theouter side of said casing portion and having anopening through which said threaded clamping member passes, said blockbeing disposed between and in contact with said rotatable part and saidcasing portion, whereby said head and said block are normally clampedagainst the inner and outer sides of said casing I portion respectivelyto hold said clamping member against creeping, and an adjusting device,mounted on the exterior of said casing portion at ing a casing, vanesrotatable about a common axis in said casing, a rotary disk eccentric'tosaid axis, means connecting said vanes with said disk, and arotatively-adjustable head in said casing theperiphery of said head; athreaded clamping member carried by said head and projecting rigidlytherefrom through said casing portion,

said threaded clamping member having a rota-l table part at the exteriorof said casing portion by means of which it may beloosened andtightened, said casing portion being provided with a flat outer sidetransverse to said threaded clamping member, a block normally clampedbetween ing member passes, and a threaded adjusting device rotatablymounted on the exterior of said casing portion onan axis parallel withsaid flat sidethereof, said threaded adjusting device being connectedwith said block for moving the latter and said threaded clamping memberto rotatively adjust said head after said threaded clamping member isloosened, saidcasing portion having a slot through which said threadedclamping member passes and in which said threaded clamping member ismovable'as said adjustingdevice is operated, said opening of said blockbeing shaped to permit the block to angle with respect to said threadedclamping member as said block slides along said fiat side of said casingportion concurrently with movement of carrying said disk for varying theeccentricity of the disk axis with respect to the vane axis;

said casing havinga portion contacting with said rotatable part and saidflat side and having an opening through which said threaded clampsaidclamping member and said head about the head-axis during operation ofsaid adjusting device.

WILLIAM P. SIEBECKER. ARMAS J. SAARIN'EN.

